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When God Called ‘The Shot Caller’

May 28, 2019 by GregC

Listen to “When God Called ‘The Shot Caller'” on Spreaker.

From the time he was a young boy, Casey Diaz watched his father assault his mother on a regular basis.  He witnessed a triple homicide by the time he was eight.  By age eleven he was in a Los Angeles-area gang and five years later he was a gang leader on his way to prison for killing a rival gang member.

That’s the bleak beginning to Casey’s life but it also sets the stage for his dramatic transformation, which he recounts in the new book “The Shot CallerCasey’s life appeared hopeless.  He was staring at a long prison sentence that he had no qualms about serving because it was expected of gang members.  He was thoroughly unrepentant.

Then Frances Proctor walked in his prison.  Proctor was a tiny lady from a nearby Baptist church who faithfully came to pray for and evangelize the prisoners.  Corrections officers told her she would be wasting her time on Casey Diaz.

Proctor didn’t listen to them.

At first, Casey politely told Proctor he wasn’t interested in her message.

“She had the boldness of a lion.  I remember her telling me, ‘I’m going to pray for you and Jesus is going to use you,'” said Diaz, who is author of “The Shot Caller,” which tells the story of his dramatic conversion.

For the next 18 months, Proctor visited Diaz once a month and assured him each time she was praying for him.

“I would spend maybe two to four minutes with her and she was just giving me the love of Christ and talking to me,” said Diaz, who says Proctor’s intercessory prayers led to him surrendering his life to Jesus one night in his cell.

“There was something so authentic about her concern for inmates in there and for some reason she just zeroed in on my life,” said Diaz.

Listen to the full podcast to hear how Casey’s life changed after that, how he soon became a target in prison, how he connected with Proctor after getting out of prison, and what he thinks are the best ways to reduce gang violence.

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Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: Casey Diaz, Christianity, gangs, news, violence

Fire Ravages Notre Dame, Hope Amid the Ashes, Bernie’s Big Problem

April 16, 2019 by GregC

Listen to “Fire Ravages Notre Dame, Hope Amid the Ashes, Bernie’s Big Problem” on Spreaker.

David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss the devastating fire that destroyed much of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris and how the event struck a deep chord with many people around the world.  They also are encouraged by how much of the 800-year-old cathedral was saved and discuss what it will take to rebuild the structure and revitalize the church in western Europe.  Finally, they pivot back to politics to discuss the Bernie Sanders town hall on the Fox News Channel, and David explains why Bernie – or who whoever the Democrats nominate – will have a very tough time defending Medicare for All once a few simple facts are known.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Bernie Sanders, Christianity, Fire, medicare, National Review, Notre Dame, Three Martini Lunch

Vulnerable Senate Dems, Evangelicals & Trump, Wild West Virginia Ad

May 4, 2018 by GregC


David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America cheer new poll numbers showing that voters in many states with incumbent Democratic senators overwhelmingly want someone new.  David explains his concern that evangelicals are showing themselves to be hypocrites and damaging their efforts to share the gospel by defending President Trump in every situation.  And they discuss the closing ad from Republican West Virginia Senate candidate Don Blankenship, who uses his 30 seconds to accuse Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of creating jobs for “China people” and labels McConnell himself as “Cocaine Mitch.”

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: 2018 midterms, character, Christianity, Cocaine Mitch, David French, democrats, Don Blankenship, evangelicals, Lunch, Michael Cohen, National Review, President Trump, Stormy Daniels, Three Martini, U.S. Senate, West Virginia

Trump Urges West to Cherish Values that Made it Strong

July 7, 2017 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/7-6-EDWARDS-BLOG.mp3

President Trump hailed Poland as a great success of western civilization, on Friday, holding up the eastern European ally as a model of how a commitment to faith and freedom can overcome great challenges and oppression.

In the speech, Trump urged other western nations to follow in Poland’s footsteps and embrace the heritage that made the West great.

“Through four decades of communist rule, Poland and the other captive nations of Europe endured a brutal campaign to demolish freedom, your faith, your laws, your history, your identity — indeed the very essence of your culture and your humanity.  Yet, through it all, you never lost that spirit.  Your oppressors tried to break you, but Poland could not be broken,” said Trump.

Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Chairman Lee Edwards says steering the West back to a position of championing its values was hugely important.

“The United States are Poland are coming together and sending a very clear signal to the rest of Europe.  ‘Let’s remember where we came from, what has made us great and powerful, making the West an invaluable part of history over the last 1,000 years.  Let’s not cast that all aside and get caught up in bureaucracy,'” said Edwards, who is also a scholar in conservative thought at the Heritage Foundation.

He says Poland’s remarkable resilience against the scourges of fascism and communism – among many other challenges over the centuries – is a testament to it’s fidelity to western values.

“Poland proves it is possible to be a people of faith and a people of independence and to do well economically,” said Edwards.

Trump noted that western civilization is under siege from within and without, starting with radical Islam.

We are confronted by another oppressive ideology — one that seeks to export terrorism and extremism all around the globe.  America and Europe have suffered one terror attack after another.  We’re going to get it to stop,” said Trump.  “We are fighting hard against radical Islamic terrorism, and we will prevail.  We cannot accept those who reject our values and who use hatred to justify violence against the innocent.”

Edwards says it’s an ideological battle the Polish people know well.

“Just as we were able to defeat communism, so too can we defeat radical Islam if we come together, if we pull together, if we work together, if we are united by a common faith and a common commitment to democracy and to liberal ideas – to those basic ideas of free speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion,” said Edwards.

Trump also noted the crushing growth of government.

“[O]n both sides of the Atlantic, our citizens are confronted by yet another danger — one firmly within our control.  This danger is invisible to some but familiar to the Poles:  the steady creep of government bureaucracy that drains the vitality and wealth of the people.  The West became great not because of paperwork and regulations but because people were allowed to chase their dreams and pursue their destinies,” said Trump.

 

And he extolled the value of faith and family in the rise of the West and as a vital key to its future.

“We can have the largest economies and the most lethal weapons anywhere on Earth, but if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive,” said Trump.

Edwards says the message was perfectly clear and critical for Europe to hear at a time when cultures are changing and faith plays a smaller and smaller role in society.

“What Mr. Trump was trying to do was say, ‘Look, let’s go back to the tried and to the true, to those values which did bring us together, did unite us, made us a strong continent and a strong West,” said Edwards.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Christianity, government, news, Poland, Trump, Western Civilization

Liberty Students Defend Public Rebuke of Falwell

October 14, 2016 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/10-14-WAHL-BLOG.mp3

Liberty University students are standing by their public criticism of school president Jerry Falwell, Jr., for what they say is “inexorably associating” the school with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

On Thursday, a group called Liberty United Against Trump released a nine-paragraph letter rebuking Falwell for his enthusiastic backing of Trump and carrying the name of Liberty University with him.

“In the months since Jerry Falwell Jr. endorsed him, Donald Trump has been inexorably associated with Liberty University. We are Liberty students who are disappointed with President Falwell’s endorsement and are tired of being associated with one of the worst presidential candidates in American history. Donald Trump does not represent our values and we want nothing to do with him, the statement begins.

“Associating any politician with Christianity is damaging to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  But Donald Trump is not just any politician. He has made his name by maligning others and bragging about his sins. Not only is Donald Trump a bad candidate for president, he is actively promoting the very things that we as Christians ought to oppose,” the statement says.

Liberty United Against Trump spokesman Dustin Wahl says students, who firmly rejected Trump in the primary, are fed up with Falwell associating them with Trump.

“It’s about the fact we don’t want to associate Donald Trump with Christianity, most importantly, and then also with Liberty University,” said Wahl, noting that Falwell has traveled to campaign for Trump and also spoke at the Republican National Convention.

“He carries the banner of Liberty University when he goes.  That’s why people know who President Falwell is,” said Wahl.

Wahl acknowledges and seems to largely agree with the argument that Hillary Clinton will be aggressively hostile to the values Liberty holds dear.  However, he says the amount of passion Falwell has for Trump’s campaign is troubling to him.

“There’s quite a difference between casting a ballot for the lesser of two evils and being kind of frustrated about it than what Falwell has been doing,  which is loudly and proudly supporting Donald Trump,” said Wahl.

Wahl says students have been frustrated with Falwell since the primary season, but Trump’s comments about women in the recently released Access Hollywood tape from 2005 demanded the group dissociate from Falwell. who continues to back Trump.

“Our motto is ‘Training Champions for Christ,’ and that is supposed to be our message.  Our message isn’t supposed to be endorsing any political candidate, but especially not one who directly opposes everything that we’re taught and everything we’re supposed to stand for and believe,” said Wahl.

And while stating the gospel of Christ cannot be stopped by any man, Wahl says Falwell’s actions make the work more difficult.

“It’s difficult to advance the message of Jesus Christ of salvation from our sins when we’re tying ourselves directly to a man who is not only sinful, because we’re all sinful, but who proudly preaches his sin,” said Wahl.

He says Falwell and others who defend Trump risk being branded as hypocrites.

“It’s pretty disappointing when the same people who used to say that character matters when Bill Clinton has his problems are now saying that character doesn’t matter when it comes to voting for the highest office in the land,” said Wahl.

Falwell quickly responded to the student statement.

“I am proud of these few students for speaking their minds.  It is a testament to the fact that Liberty University promotes the free expression of ideas unlike many major universities where political correctness prevents conservative students from speaking out.  However, I am afraid the statement is false in several respects,” stated Falwell.

Falwell stated that Trump has much more support on campus than his critics are willing to admit.  He also says many of the people in Liberty United Against Trump aren’t even students and that he is always clear that he is not speaking for the university when he advocates for Trump.

He also claims his actions are biblical.

“I am only fulfilling my obligation as a citizen to ‘render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s’ by expressing my personal opinion about who I believe is best suited to lead our nation in a time of crisis,” stated Falwell, referring to Mark 12:17.

Wahl is not impressed.

“I’m not a biblical scholar but I think there’s a strong argument to be made that’s he’s maybe taking that verse out of context.  I believe that had a little more to do with taxes than , not so much with endorsing a specific presidential candidate,” said Wahl.

He says even Trump supporters on campus are applauding Trump opponents for speaking out.

“We’ve received word from all kinds of Trump supporters here on campus and other places that are proud of what we’re doing.  Even though they’re voting for Donald Trump, they say, ‘Look, we don’t want Liberty to be associated with a man like Trump.  I personally think Hillary Clinton is worse.  But I don’t want my degree tied to someone like Donald Trump even though I’m choosing to vote for him for president,'” said Wahl.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: 2016, Christianity, Falwell, Liberty, news, students, Trump, university

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